Hermandad

In 1592 the Town and Parish of San Jose de Oruna was established. With the parish, the Association of the Blessed Sacrament known as Hermandad was established as well. The basic mission of this Brotherhood was to live the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and develop it within the Parish. Members of the Hermandad were also advising the Parish Priest, helping with the administration of the Parish, and took part in organizing and controlling the missions amids Amerindians. That is what we know today.

Many good and bad things happened since then. Members of the Hermandad were carrying the canopy during procession, building the local comunity but most probably were also involved in some tragic events concerning the Native Population of Trinidad. The time has now come to write the history of the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Joseph. But this little article is not about the history but about the future of the Hermandad.

We have no intention of escaping, forgetting what had happened in St. Joseph. We should not forget those good things, as well as those tragic, because a lot of good was done by the members of St. Joseph Parish (very often our ancestors), and a lot of bad things as well. We would like to heal the past. Our own past as well. We too in our past years have done a lot of good and committed many, sometimes serious sins – as individuals and as a community.

So, we would like to bring the Hermandad, the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament bring back to life. Yes, this article is to share and spread the idea of refounding the Hermandad in St. Joseph.  How we would like to release the mission and duties of the Association?

The goal of the proposesed Brotherhood: Through the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, we would like to build unity within our Society. Being in Communion with Jesus we would like to build community between people.

We know that we have done a lot of sinful things in the past. We were moved by our greed and other desires. Some of us destroyed our families or the life of others, so we would like to pray through the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, that Jesus may transform our hearts into the likeness of his own – that we may serve unity, reconciliation, building bridges between people, and bringing forgiveness. In this way we would like heal tha past (repair things destroyed by our ancestors) and building a better future … building communion.

The duties of the Brotherhood:

• Each brother shall pray for 30 minutes in the front of the Blessed Sacrament weekly.

• Brethren should prepare the Eucharistic Processions in the Parish.

• Brethren should assist the Parish Priest in maintenance of the material goods of the Parish.

• Brethren should hold regular meetings once a month, to be together, and develop ways of building community within parish and society.

What do you think about Hermandad? Would you like that Hermandad would be brought back to life? Do you have any suggestions how Hermandad should operate? Would you like to enter this Brotherhood?